Swan 411/022 restoration

Major restoration work has started on the 1978 Swan 411/022 at Puerto Calero service centre in Lanzarote. 

The work involves repairs to the hull, keel, rudder & mast together with replacement of the standing & running rigging, holding tank and other minor items as they crop up. 

The work is being well supervised by the surveyor who conducted the original survey in February 2025. 

Puerto Calero is a Nautor Swan approved service centre. 

The work is expected to take around 90 days. The boat should be back in the water by November 2025, but don't quote me! 

In summary, the project will not be inexpensive but should result in a 411 in good condition. 

I'll aim to provide updates and photos as work progresses. I'm happy to share details with those interested or who may be carrying out similar work. 

Kind regards 

Michael Dalton 

Swan 411/022 

ready to be hauled

Rudder dismantled

Major restoration work has started on the 1978 Swan 411/022 at Puerto Calero service centre in Lanzarote. 

The work involves repairs to the hull, keel, rudder & mast together with replacement of the standing & running rigging, holding tank and other minor items as they crop up. 

The work is being well supervised by the surveyor who conducted the original survey in February 2025. 

Puerto Calero is a Nautor Swan approved service centre. 

The work is expected to take around 90 days. The boat should be back in the water by November 2025, but don't quote me! 

In summary, the project will not be inexpensive but should result in a 411 in good condition. 

I'll aim to provide updates and photos as work progresses. I'm happy to share details with those interested or who may be carrying out similar work. 

Kind regards 

Swan 411/022 is under cover. Peeling work on the first layer port side is finished. The surveyor expects two more layers to be completed by next week as extra manpower and two peeling machines will be used

One machine was damaged when the machine hit an old bronze valve that had been marked. The machine required repairing with a new blade and bearings causing a delay!

Work on the rudder is progressing well with new tangs to be fitted next week.

Once peeling is completed the keel will be dropped and checked. A keel condition report is expected by mid August or thereabouts.

Here are a few photos of the hull peeling and rudder work in progress.

Kind regards

Michael Dalton

Swan411/022

Two layers of hull peeling has reduced the moisture content to under 30 in most areas. The surveyor advises a further peel may be necessary followed by hot vacuum pads to further reduce the moisture content.

Keel removal in underway. See photo showing the aft most keel bolt that requires the engine to be lifted for access.

Aft keel bolt

Dear Michael,

1 - thanks for the update, very interesting, could you please send more and detailed pic of the keel/keel removal when you have them?

2 - good the drain plug has been preserved (you can't imagine how many owners have sealed it!)

Fair winds!

matteo (47/069 Vanessa)

Dear Matteo

Many thanks for your comments. 

I'll be delighted to post more information and photos once the keel has been removed. 

I think the drain plug had been covered in many layers of paint and anti fouling. Only now seeing the light of day once again! 

Best regards 

Michael Dalton - (411/022 Sundance)

Work progresses on the keel and rudder. Note that the aft most keel bolt & nut have been accessed without removing or lifting the engine because of the shorter length of the Yanmar 4JH45CR compared to the Perkins 4.108 (see photo).

The keel bolts and nuts appear to be in reasonable condition after 47 years!

The rudder shaft has corrosion in some areas. The workshop is machining off the  corroded material. If the corroded areas cannot be removed within tolerances a new shaft will be manufactured. It is hoped this can be avoided!

The aft end of the keel is now separated from the hull, other areas remain attached with epoxy that will need to be cut off.  The keel is due to be dropped this week, I'll post further keel photos once clear from the hull.

Work on hull peeling has reduced moisture content to 20 or less. The hull drying process with vacuum heat pads will start shortly.

Relaminating will get underway once the hull has dried out further and the keel has been refitted. 

I will keep you updated on progress.

Kind regards

Michael Dalton - Swan 411/022

Keel bolt & nut appear in reasonable condition

Aft most bolt accessible by removing engine cover

Rudder shaft corrosion

Dear Michael,

not surprized by the quality of the material they used in those times. No compromise was accepted.

When installing back the rudder shaft remember packing grand should be teflon impregnated AND NOT GRAPHITE, and 3 to 5 turns of it; graphite is lethal for the stainless steel (that's likely to be the cause of the corrosion on the shaft), someone wrongly suggested to used the graphite impregnated seal, that's the result, sorry about that.

matteo (47/069 Vanessa)

Dear Matteo

Thank you for reminding us to use Teflon seals on the rudder shaft. The yard is familiar with the issue. 

I'm not sure where the rudder was previously serviced, but probably in the USA where 411/022 spent the first 30 years of her life.

Kind regards 

Michael Dalton   Swan 411/022 

The keel has finally been persuaded to part ways with the hull (see photos) after much wrestling with removal of epoxy adhesive that had been used as the bonding adhesive. The surveyor and yard are recommending the use of 3M4200 sealant for refitting the keel to allow for flexing while retaining a waterproof joint and for ease of future removal if necessary.

The keel bolts are mostly in reasonable condition (see photos) with the exception of the aft most, longer M20 bolt, that is slightly corroded and will need repair work (see photo).

The rudder stock corrosion (see photo) has been machined off and the stock declared suitable for refitting.

The hull stringers have been checked for delamination (see photo) and found to be in good shape with no signs of delamination of the foam core.

The hull to keel joint will be cleaned up, coated and smoothed with epoxy in preparation for refitting. Any damage to the lead keel itself will be repaired.

Work is underway on assessing the mast repairs together with the parts list for new standing rigging.

Michael Dalton - (411/022 - Sundance)

Keel reluctantly parted from hull

Keel bolt in reasonable condtion

Only the aft most keel bolt has some corrosion

Additonal photos related to my previous post

Hull to keel joint to be cleaned up and epoxied

Area of slight keel damage

Rebuilding will start soon!

More photos related to recent posts.

Michael Dalton (411/022 - Sundance)

No stringer delamination noted

Corrosion machined off and declared good to go

Close up on hull to keel area

The mating surfaces of the keel and hull have been rebuilt to a flat and strong profile using epoxy resin. The keel bolts were cleaned and coated with Awlgrip 545 epoxy primer. The keel has been refitted using 3M4200 to provide a waterproof yet flexible joint. 

See the attached photos of the keel bolts, hull and keel. 

The rudder stock has been carefully machined to remove corrosion. The tangs were cleaned and polished. The whole assembly has been rebuilt and fitted with Delrin bushes.

Mast corrosion at the cap shrouds has been removed and cleaned up prior to fitting new stainless steel shroud plates. 

See the attached photos of the rudder stock and the mast cap shroud attachment area.

Next steps are relaminating the hull with epoxy resin and glass fibre matting to build up the 3 layers of old polyester resin and fibres that were peeled off the hull below the water line to remove osmosis. 

After 6 weeks dismantling the mast, keel, hull and rudder it's a great relief to see the boat being put back together! 

Overall, the yard at Puerto Calero in Lanzarote is doing a great job in conjunction with my surveyor Andrew Edmond from Compass Marine Surveys in the UK. 

Michael Dalton - 411/022 (Sundance) 

Hull surface prepared

Keel bolts prepared with Awlgrip 545 epoxy primer

Lowering the hull onto the keel

Additonal photos of work to the rudder and mast.

Michael Dalton - 411/022 (Sundance)

Cap shroud attachment corrosion

Rudder stock refurbished

Rudder stock

Around a 4mm depth of old, damaged polyester GRP has been removed from the hull, below the water line, in 3 layers of peeling to eliminate all traces of osmosis.

The hull was allowed to dry and then checked for moisture content that was found to be low in all areas.

The peeled and dried hull has been recovered in 3 layers of biaxial fibre sheets impregnated with epoxy resin. The dry and warm weather in Lanzarote has considerably shortened the drying process. Smoothing and finishing of the hull was carried out using the longboard method that is designed to provide a smoother and fairer finish. 

The key principle is that the long, rigid nature of the tool allows it to bridge across small imperfections, only sanding down the high spots while leaving the low spots untouched, thus establishing a truly fair and smooth curve.  

See the attached photo. 

The hull was finished with two layers of epoxy resin gel coat followed by anti fouling in International Micron 350 blue colour code YBB625.

The rudder has been finished, reinforced and attached back on the skeg. 

See the attached photos.

It's understood that some later model Swan 411 boats have had the rudder extended below the bottom of the skeg. The modification, approved by S&S, was designed to provide additional control particularly downwind. 

It would be interesting to hear comments and advice from any Swan 411 owner with the extended rudder design. 

The rudder on Sundance 411/022 is as built. The rudder extends only to the lower end of the skeg. 

See the attached photos 

The unstepped mast has been examined carefully. Several areas of corrosion were found at the stay attachment points, on one of the spreaders and heavy corrosion on the keel stub and shoe. 

The section of the mast inside the yacht from the deck to the keel stub will be painted with white epoxy paint. 

See the attached photo of the damaged mast stub area. 

The mast repairs are being carried out by aluminium welding and careful sanding. Photos of the repaired mast areas will follow.

 Michael Dalton

411/022 (Sundance)

Hull sanded and faired

Hull port

Hull and rudder port

Additional rudder and mast photos of Sundance.

Michael Dalton

411/022 (Sundance)

Corrosion on mast stub

Rudder refitted

Additional rudder and mast photos of Sundance.

Swan 411/022 has finally been launched and the mast restepped.

The Swan Service Centre at Puerto Calero did a great job. I'm delighted with the results so far.

3 x 200 ah lithium Iron batteries have been installed together with Victron AC/DC control equipment and Raymarine AIS, Radar and MFD to be mounted at the binnacle.

Solar frame and 2 x 410 REC Alpha panels will be fitted above the cockpit.

More photos to follow. 

Michael Dalton 

Swan 411/022 Sundance 

Mast restepped